Gloria LaFonche

Gloria LaFonche is the fictional malevolent, faded starlet from the film The Viva Voce Virus.
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thumb|left|Gloria_La_Fonche_(played_by_Kathleen Bryson)]

Biography

Born to a large farming family in dustbowl poverty, the youngest of seven, Gloria was determined from a young age to rise to the top. Here inestimable charm, deadly charisma and ability to make women seethe and men salivate assured her path there. Whilst still in her early teens she appeared in as the troupe leader in"Gloria's Gay Girls" in an attempt to drag her family out of grinding poverty. However, her puritan family, rejected the money, and Gloria, outright.

Undaunted, the stunning Gloria, by then maturing to the full flower of her womanhood, packed her bags and went west, to Hollywood, the place were dreams are broken, but legends are made!

The Legend

Gloria's first few months in Hollywood were tough. The silver screen wasn't on the look out for a serious actress. Movie goers wanted sensation rather Shakespeare. Gloria set aside her dreams of playing Lady Macbeth (or did she?) and vowed to give the people everything they wanted.

On screen and off, Gloria's potency was undeniable. She bent everyone, directors and makeup girls alike to her every whim. "Fulfil my dreams," she seemed to promise, "and I will fulfil yours". As her character "Missy" in Girl on the town bravely declared: "I will be anything, as long as I can be a success".

The Movies

Gloria's talents graced the screen too many times to recount here. Indeed, no full record of her activities is thought to exist. These are some highlights, in chronological order.

I Loved a She Devil Lapidus studios , 1956.Gloria's first big screen breakthrough saw her playing a 16th century French nun "Jeanne Marceau" who is called on to exorcise the daemons that have possessed a local teenage girl, turning her into a succubus.

Revenge of the Tree Creature, Lapidus studios , 1956.The cult classic! A b-movie romp that amazingly foreshadowed the environmental awareness of the coming decades!

Under the Surface, Lapidus studios, 1957.As "Vixen", the feisty assistant to Professor Kewotnik who wants to create a utopia beneath the earth's crust, peopled solely by intelligent super-women.

Love in the heavens, Lapidus studios, 1958.A team of US astronauts assembled from the finest sportsmen, soldiers and scientists of the day is sent to colonise Mars. Gloria turns in a tour de force as Helena, the lone space ship stewardess.

Girl on the Town, Lapidus studios, 1958.Compared by some to "Streetcar", the role of Missy made Gloria the Legend she is today. Her name was linked with those of Monroe, Harlow and even Bardot as the future face of sex-appeal.

Daughters of Eve, Bismark productions, 1959A tribe of long forgotten cavegirls untouched by modern life capture a team of explorers as husbands. Gloria as Alarhula led the tribe in this picture which touched on the themes of gender roles and sexual politics in a way that was well ahead of its time

Sister Blood, Viva Voce Studios, 1959 - UNFINISHEDRumoured to be a vampire-themed exploration of same sex relationships, this film was never finished. It is unknown whether this was bold political statement years ahead of its time, or another in a series of dykesploitation movies.